STATE AND LOCAL Local benefit to help family pay bills of boy in semi-coma By JERRY OSLIN Staff Writer A special benefit to help pay the medical expenses of the fam ily of Bart Van Leerdam will be held Saturday, June 29. at the Brazos Rodeo Arena. The 20-month-old College Sta tion boy has been iti a semi-coma since March SI, when he wan dered away from his home and fell in a pond. The proceeds from the benefit will go to St. Joseph Hospital to help pay medical expenses, said Monique Dekker, Bryan special events coordinator. The benefit, which will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., will in clude an all-day barbeque, an auction and a horseshoe pitching competition, Dekker said. Tne Dallas Mavericks, Hous ton Rockets, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Oilers, Texas Rangers and Houston Astros all have do nated tickets to the auction, she said. Employees of the city of Bryan organized the benefit, and several area businesses and individuals donated food and other items, Dekker said. Tickets to the barbeque cost S3.50 and the registration fee for the horseshoe pitching contest will be $15 per team. Teams may register from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and the winners will be given tro phies, she said. The benefit also will feature two bands. Bart’s condition has improved since 56 volunteer workers started working with him, Dekker said. She said the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Re tardation was responsible for or ganizing the volunteer ef fort. “MHMR was responsible for rounding up the volunteers by getting the message out through public service announcements and news stories,” Dekker said. MHMR nurse Debby Babb gives Bart some encouragement while checking on his progress. A&M officers fight unfair image Grants from USDA to A&M get renewed By NANCY JUMPER Reporter The U.S. Department of Agricul ture has renewed grants to Texas A&M totalling $115,956, continuing support of Ph.D. graduate fellowships, U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm says. The Department of Agricultural Engineering awarded five three- year fellowships of $15,000 each to students beginning their doctoral programs. The fellowships were awarded to A&M through the Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate Fellowships, a USDA project. Dr. Edward Hiler, A&M profes sor and head of agricultural engi neering, says, “Texas A&M’s agricul tural engineering depfirtment is one of 10 universities in the country to receive the USDA fellowships.” ' The A&M biochemistry and bi ophysics departments also received grants, providing seven fellowships of $15,000 each to students begin ning their doctoral programs. The fellowships were awarded by the USDA Biotechnology Training Grant, A&M and the Texas Agricul tural Experiment Station. The grants were awarded after each academic department applied for them and sent a proposal to the USDA with ideas for individual pro grams. After the proposals were re viewed by authorities across the United States, the USDA selected the outstanding proposals for the fellowships. After A&M was notified it had won the grants, each specific depart ment began searching for qualified candidates for the awards. The fellowships were awarded on two competitive levels: the university level and the academic or student level. A&M was awarded twelve fellowships, the maximum any uni versity can receive, says Dr. Thomas Baldwin, associate professor with biochemistry and director of the bi otechnology training program. Police work not just issuing tickets By LAMYA SOURYAL Reporter Many fexas A&M students don’t realize the University Police Depart ment does more than give parking tickets, “harass” bicycle riders and tow away cars. What do the police think about this unflattering image? “Officers are often verbally abused because people are acting out of ignorance as to what our du ties are,” says Bob Wiatt, University 1 Police Director. Students don’t believe the same laws apply to the campus as to the rest of tne world, he says. Prior to 1967, A&M had a security force of non-commissioned officers who were little more than watchmen with no power to enf orce laws. This past image causes people to take the University Police lightly, he says. “We are a real law enforcement agency that enforces laws like any other law enforcement agency,” Wiatt says. “People do things on campus they wouldn’t think of doing- in a city. “When they get stopped, they are surprised when the officer gives them a ticket,” Wiatt says. “They don’t realize the police are doing their jobs.” Sgt. Mike Buckley, a patrolman for the University Police, says he be lieves a contributing factor to the image of the University Police is the coverage it receives in The Battalion. “The Battalion does not always give the University Police fair cover age,” Buckley says. “I d6n’t expect any special coverage, but I would like them to be fair, show the good with the bad.” Detective William Scott of the in vestigations division says he agrees the image of the campus police is not good, but he thinks it’s getting bet ter. “It is unfortunate that a lot of stu dents don’t have a high regard for us because of the parking problems, but I really think that is changing,” Scott says. The department is trying to im prove its image by modernizing its equipment and increasing its staff size, Buckley says. Most students rarely look past the tickets to see how the department operates. The department, which has 76 full-time employees and 18 student workers, is comparable in size to the College Station Police Department, Wiatt says. The patrol division, which is chiefly responsible for traffic and speeding violations, is made up of 21 officers and six supervisers. All patrol officers are commis sioned officers, qualified to carry firearms. “This is not the Enchanted For est,” Buckley says. “There is crime on campus and students need to re alize that although A&M is below the national average for serious crimes, they do happen.” A common misconception stu dents have of University patrolmen concerns police authority to issue university tickets or justice of the peace tickets, depending on the offi cer’s discretion. “We are no different from the po lice in College Station or Bryan, ex cept the University gives us great lat itude in where we can file cases," Buckley says. “We can file through the University system or the criminal justice system — whichever will be beneficial to the student and the University in a particular situation.” The special services division, which issues parking tickets, is the part of the force most students come into contact with. Officers in this division are not commissioned and cannot carry fire arms. Ten special officers, along with patrolmen, monitor the streets and parking lots. To become a University police of ficer, applicants must have a high school diploma, pass a general apti tude test and a psychological test. Applicants do not need a college de gree, but should have some college credits. Of the 27 patrol officers, 11 are A&M students. A&M has the only accredited po lice academy in the Brazos Valley area. Graduates are commissioned police officers. The starting salary for commissioned officers working for the University Police is $16,507. --**r g a:jzmm3L3 Save a Bundle! 1. No Electricity Deposit 2. 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